In anticipation of his first match at the Sony Ericsson Open, Roger Federer sat down with the media today in Miami. At the start of the press conference it was announced that Roger Federer will be playing in Brazil for the first time as part of P&G’s Olympic global campaign. During the interview, Federer was asked about playing in the year’s Olympics and provided some insight on Murray, Djokovic and Nadal. Here is what Federer had to say.

LUIS CARVALHO: Good afternoon. On behalf of Gillette, welcome and thank you for being here today. Gillette is proud and excited to announce Roger Federer for the first time in Brazil. Roger has been sponsored by Gillette for five years, and he’s one of the 24 athletes that are a part of P&G’s Olympic global campaign. The Brazilian public are extremely excited to finally meet and watch the world’s best tennis player in history.

We are now open to questions.

Q. Are you more under pressure because you were the champion at Indian Wells, or do you think the contrary, every tournament is a new beginning?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I think you’re go into a new tournament after winning one before with a lot of confidence, so that’s the good thing. Do I feel more pressure? Not really, just because I have been around for so long that I know how to handle pressure situations. I’m not the defending champion here. I only have, if you like, a semifinals to defend. So things are going really well for me. It’s about doing all the right things, being professional, you know, before the match, and hopefully sort of find a good way into the tournament. That’s my first priority right now.

Q. There are talks for the year‑end championship to go to Brazil. Do you have any say on that?

ROGER FEDERER: The beginning what did you say?

Q. The year‑end championship.

ROGER FEDERER: Yes.

Q. It might go to Brazil. If that happens, so what’s your view on that?

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, I think it’s great that hopefully many countries and cities, you know, would want to have the World Tour Finals, because it’s such a successful event. It was great in Shanghai for so many years. Houston put on a good event. Then obviously, you know, back in Shanghai after Houston again was great. Then they built this incredible stadium now at London. We’re having a record crowd every single time we show up. It’s only but normal that you have different interests, interested people around, especially, you know, with the Olympics and the World Cup going to Brazil. It’s a place that’s really buzzing at the moment, I would think, even though I have never been there, that’s why I’m so excited coming with the Gillette Tour this December. I’m really excited. So, look, I’d be happy if, you know, Brazil shows interest to have the World Tour Finals. But right now the tournament in London is very successful and very good. It’s a place that really can put on a great event. We’ll see the conversations with the ATP.

Q. An Olympic‑related questions. First of all, how high a priority are you putting on the Olympics this year?
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For fans hopeful of a rematch between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the Sony Ericsson Open final, neither man will have a comfortable trip in getting there.

Djokovic could contend with Marcos Baghdatis in his opening match, countryman Viktor Troicki in the third round or Richard Gasquet in the fourth round. Also, in the quarterfinals, Juan Martin Del Potro or the relentless David Ferrer may stump the world number one.

Moreover, besides Nikolay Davydenko who was unable to defend his 2008 title due to injury, since 2006 no prior year’s champion has advanced beyond the round of 16.

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Roger Federer feted the twentieth anniversary of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in a memorable manner. In the final, Federer bested Andy Murray 7-5, 6-4 to claim a record fifth trophy.

The last time, Federer and Murray clashed was at the ATP World Tour Champions in 2010. Although the former was victorious, in their head to head, Murray led 8-6.

In the semifinals, Murray dispatched Novak Djokovic in straight sets to hand the Serb his first knockdown of the year. Moreover, Murray stopped Djokovic from seeking a fourth consecutive title. Consequently, Murray came into the final full of confidence.

On the other hand, Federer has been brilliant of late. He was going for his second title in a row in his last two tournaments.

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The Dutch crowd waited seven years for Roger Federer to defend his 2005 title and he did not disappoint. In the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament final, Federer dispatched Juan Martin Del Potro 6-1, 6-4 to secure his maiden trophy of the season.

After escaping in three sets in the semifinals against Nikolay Davydenko, Federer knew he had to be sharp from the start in facing Del Potro. The Swiss maestro brought his best stuff from the outset.

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Novak Djokovic, the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open champion, will commence the defense of his title when he takes to courts in Miami on Saturday, March 24. Djokovic will headline the evening session of the tournament’s opening weekend.

Djokovic will face a stacked field that includes Rafael Nadal and former Sony Ericsson Open Champions Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray.

MiamiTennisNews.com will once again be providing live media coverage from the tournament. Join our Facebook Fan page at http://www.facebook.com/MiamiTennisNews and follow us on Twitter under the user name @MiamiTennisNews at http://twitter.com/MiamiTennisNews for news, live scores, and results.

Here is the official tournament press release :

WORLD NO. 1 NOVAK DJOKOVIC TO OPEN EVENING SESSION PLAY ON SATURDAY, MARCH 24
MIAMI, Fla. (www.sonyericssonopen.com) – World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will begin his quest to defend his 2011 Sony Ericsson Open title on Saturday, March 24 (Session 10) at 8:00 p.m. Djokovic’s opponent, along with the rest of the men’s field, will be determined on Monday, March 19 when the tournament draw is announced.

The two-time Sony Ericsson Open champ (2011, 2007) has become a fan favorite in Miami having played in some of the tournament’s most thrilling matches en route to capturing the Butch Buchholz Championship Trophy.

Djokovic looks to join the company of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, by becoming the third man in tournament history to win at least three titles; and the first, since Roger Federer (2006, 2005), to record back-to-back wins at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Tickets to the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open are on sale now and can be purchased by phone (305-442-3367) or via internet at www.sonyericssonopen.com. An electrifying two weeks of tennis conclude with the women’s final on Saturday, March 31 and the men’s final on Sunday, April 1.

Djokovic, started the year off strong, claiming his third Australian Open title. The fun-loving Serbian star, plans to build on his remarkable 2011 campaign which saw him collect three of the four Grand Slams including, the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

The five-time Grand Slam champion became World No. 1 on July 4, 2011 after his win at Wimbledon. Earlier this year, Djokovic received the prestigious Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award in London beating out some of the world’s best in their respective sport including Usain Bolt (Track and Field), Dirk Nowitzki (Basketball), Sebastian Vettel (Motor Racing), Lionel Messi (Soccer) and Cadel Evans (Cycling).

Djokovic will face a field featuring 10-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal; 16-time Grand Slam champion and two-time Sony Ericsson Open winner Roger Federer; Grand Slam champ and two-time Sony Ericsson Open winner Andy Roddick; and 2009 Sony Ericsson Open champion Andy Murray.

ABOUT THE SONY ERICSSON OPEN: The 2012 Sony Ericsson Open will be played March 19-April 1 at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami. The two-week combined event is owned and operated by IMG and is widely regarded as the most glamorous event on the ATP and WTA Tours drawing over 300,000 guests each year including the biggest names in music, entertainment and sports. The Sony Ericsson Open is one of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series events and a Premier Mandatory event on the WTA Tour, and features the top men’s and women’s tennis players in the world including defending champions Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka. For ticket information, call (305) 442-3367 or visit the website at http://www.SonyEricssonOpen.com.

ABOUT SONY ERICSSON: Sony Ericsson is a 50:50 joint venture between Sony Corporation (“Sony”) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (“Ericsson”). In October 2011 it was announced by Sony and Ericsson that Sony will acquire Ericsson’s stake in the company and that Sony Ericsson will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony. The transaction is expected to close in January 2012 and is subject to regulatory approvals. Over the years Sony Ericsson has brought together the best communication technologies with superior entertainment user experiences to create its Xperia™ line of the ‘most entertaining smartphones’ in the mobile handset industry. With its global corporate functions in London, Sony Ericsson has sales and marketing operations in all major regions of the world, as well as manufacturing in China, and product development sites in China, Japan, Sweden and Silicon Valley, California. For more information, please visit: www.sonyericsson.com/press.

ABOUT IMG: IMG Worldwide is a global sports, entertainment and media business, with nearly 3,000 employees operating in 30 countries around the globe. IMG’s areas of expertise are diverse and wide ranging: IMG College; IMG’s Joint Venturesin China, Brazil and India; IMG Media; IMG Events and Federations; IMG Fashion; IMG Models; IMG Art+Commerce; IMG Clients; IMG Academies; IMG Consulting and IMG Licensing. More information is available at www.imgworld.com.

For the second day in a row, rain disrupted the proceedings at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic. But this afternoon, even that was insufficient for top seed and wildcard Gael Monfils to prevail. Unseeded Radek Stepanek bested Monfils 6-4,6-4 to win this ATP 500 tournament, the biggest prize of his career.

With a record of 5-2 against Stepanek, Monfils seemed in good stead to become the first Frenchman to triumph in the nation’s capital since Arnaud Clement beat Andy Murray in 2006.

For his part, Stepanek was on a quest to end his nation’s 29 year drought at this venue. Petr Korda, Stepanek’s coach, was the last victorious Czech in 1992.

The preamble to a disastrous afternoon for Monfils came in his initial service game. Monfils had two successive double faults despite holding.

Subsequent to guarding serve, Stepanek struck a backhand crosscourt winner for break point. When Monfils dumped a forehand into the net, Stepanek took a 2-1 lead.

In trying to consolidate, Stepanek went down 0-30. However, Monfils obliged with a sleuth of errors to allow the Czech to consolidate for a 3-1 advantage.

Later with Stepanek serving, the skies opened up and a thunderous downpour followed. Once Stepanek returned and completed the game for 4-2, showers came anew.

When play resumed, Monfils appeared more willing to fight and comfortably maintained serve. Yet despite Stepanek’s horrendous 30 percent first serve, Monfils could not capitalize on his second serve.

With Monfils stuck ten feet beyond the baseline and his returns falling short, an aggressive Stepanek proficient at volleying thrived at the net. Consequently, Stepanek easily bedded the first set.

For Monfils, the following set was a duplicate of the previous one. With a backhand volley winner, Stepanek had break point in the initial game. With Monfils’ forehand crosscourt pass finding the net, Stepanek converted.

Next, with an emphatic love game punctuated by his maiden ace, Stepanek raced to a 2-0 lead.

At times, Monfils uncorked his frustration on his racket. The crowd did it’s utmost to lift the Frenchman, however, without success. Despite losing solely two points his subsequent four service games, Monfils could not fabricate a single break point.

Stepanek’s first serve percentage picked up slightly this set at 46, winning 12 out of 12 points. With Monfils’ return not clearing the net, Stepanek had triple championship points.

When Monfils flubbed a backhand, Stepanek claimed his first title since San Jose in 2009. He also became the second oldest titlist. Jimmy Connors hoisted the trophy in 1988 at age 35.

With yesterday’s semifinals completed in the wee hours of the morning, Monfils did not go to sleep until four. Thus, the Frenchman felt the lack of rest made him “a fraction of a step slower. . . [so I] caught the returns late”.

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Today, Rafael Nadal went in search of his third consecutive Wimbledon title. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, someone got in his way. Novak Djokovic downed Nadal 6-4,6-1,1-6,6-3 to bank his initial trophy at the All England Club.

With a record of 47-1 this season and four victories over Nadal, the Serb realized he had “a mental advantage”. Yet, the finals of Indian Wells, Miami, Rome and Madrid were three set affairs. Consequently, in a five set major final against Nadal, Djokovic knew it would be a bear of a task.

Nine games into the initial set, neither player had problem holding serve. Then, at 4-5, Nadal misjudged a forehand to give Djokovic set point. When the Spaniard sent another forehand wide, Djokovic took the first set.

After Djokovic recovered from 0-30 in the opening game of the second set, Nadal netted a backhand crosscourt to hand his rival double break point. Great anticipation by Djokovic off the forehand dropshot by Nadal resulted in a backhand volley winner for the break and a 2-0 lead.

Next, Djokovic consolidated with another comfortable hold. Later ahead 4-1, Djokovic manufactured another break chance. When Nadal pushed a backhand wide, Djokovic had a 5-1 advantage in the second set.

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For the second year in a row, Roger Federer is on course to equalize Pete Sampras’ record of seven Wimbledon titles. Defending champion Rafael Nadal is also through to the second week as he goes for his third French Open-Wimbledon duo. While Novak Djokovic, the hottest player this season, is in great form through three matches.

The world’s top three players are still the ones to beat heading into the round of 16 while world number four and hometown pick Andy Murray is also alive with an outside chance. Here’s a review of the past few days and a look at the rest of the tournament.

Federer has looked superb through the first three rounds of play. The Swiss dominated his third round match against a less than 100% David Nalbandian who’s had his number previously.

In the fourth round, Federer takes on Mikhail Youzhny. Federer has won all ten of their prior meetings and the Russian has never been beyond the round of 16 at this event.

David Ferrer tied his best showing at the All England Club by reaching the round of 16 and will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who was a quarterfinalist last year. The winner of that contest will probably battle Federer in the quarterfinals.

After straight sets triumphs his initial two matches, Djokovic had to bear down against Marcos Baghdatis to move on in four in the third round. On Monday, Djokovic meets Michael Llodra in the fourth round. Although Llodra is sensational on grass, he should be no match for Djokovic.

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For the first time at the All England Club, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the top two seeds. Defending champion Nadal will fight to collect his third hardware at this venue and his third French Open-Wimbledon combo. Djokovic who registered his maiden loss of the year at the previous major after a forty-one match unbeaten run will attempt to reach his first final at SW 19.

Two other competitors are also hoping to make history. Third seed Roger Federer tries to equalize Pete Sampras’ all time record of seven titles while fourth seed Andy Murray carries the aspirations of an isle on his shoulders. This fortnight, Murray aims to terminate his nation’s 75 year drought at its home major. Here’s the breakdown of the 2011 Wimbledon draw.

For world number one Nadal, it should be smooth sailing until the third round. In that session, the defending champion could be bothered by phenom Milos Raonic. Again in the round of 16, Nadal will be on crash alert with Juan Martin Del Potro his likely opponent. Consequently, there are various rocks along the road early on for the top seed.

In the quarterfinals, Nadal could face a rematch of last year’s final with Tomas Berdych. Considering Berdych’s average performance this season, the Spaniard should have the advantage. However, a semifinal against either Andy Roddick, a three time finalist, or Murray will be a harder challenge.

Having won the Queen’s Club trophy for the second time, Murray has once more found his mojo. Murray’s potential third round counterpart is Marin Cilic and either Stanislas Wawrinka or Richard Gasquet in the fourth round. While these are all worthy adversaries, Murray should have the upper hand.

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For the second consecutive day, the French Open became a part of history as Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5,7-6,5-7,6-1 to equal Bjorn Borg with six French Open titles. Nadal also became the seventh man in the exclusive club of those with 10 or more major trophies.

The last time the two clashed in a final at a major was the 2009 Australian Open. This was the twenty-fifth meeting between Nadal and Federer, their fifth at Roland Garros and their fourth final.

In 2008, Nadal blew Federer off the court 6-1,6-3,6-0. After ending Novak Djokovic’s 2011 unbeaten run at 41 matches, Federer came in rejuvenated and relaxed, it was evident in the first set.

Subsequent to guarding serve, on a backhand error by Nadal, Federer had double break point. Despite Nadal getting to deuce, on his fourth opportunity, Federer seized the break and consolidated for 3-0.

After constructing a 5-2 advantage, as Nadal’s forehand sailed long, Federer had set point. However, with the dropshot missing its mark, Nadal was at deuce and later captured the game.

Serving for the initial set, Federer’s first serve which was instrumental in building his lead deserted him. Federer netted a backhand to hand Nadal break point. When the Swiss misfired on a volley after a passing shot, the players were back on serve.

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